The present disclosure relates to a fixing device fixing a toner image on a recording medium and an image forming apparatus including this fixing device.
Conventionally, an electrographic image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine or a printer, includes a fixing device fixing a toner image on a recording medium, such as a sheet.
For example, there is a fixing device including a rotating member fixing the toner image on the recording medium, a bearing rotatably supporting the rotating member and a heat insulating member interposed between the rotating member and the bearing.
In the fixing device including such structure, when fixing the toner image on the recording medium, the rotating member is thermally expanded. According to this, it is feared that a large load is applied to the heat insulating member interposed between the rotating member and the bearing and the heat insulating member is broken. Thereupon, in the above-mentioned fixing device, the heat insulating member includes a notch part. Moreover, in the above-mentioned fixing device, the heat insulating member is composed of two components fitted to each other.
However, as mentioned above, if the heat insulating member includes the notch part, it is feared that torsion occurs around the notch part in the heat insulating member when operation fixing the toner image on the recording medium is carried out, and accordingly, abnormal noise occurs. Moreover, in the above-mentioned fixing device, because the heat insulating member is composed of two components, structure of the heat insulating member is complicated.